Trump news – live: Trump granted temporary stay in effort to stop House committee getting tax returns

Donald Trump has been granted a temporary stay in his effort to keep the House Ways and Means Committee from gaining access to tax returns, with chief Supreme Court justice John Roberts giving the committee until next Thursday to respond.

Mr Trump has fought for years to prevent the committee accessing the returns, which he has long claimed he cannot reveal because he is supposedly under audit. The developments come as two separate cases involving him, his finances and his businesses get underway in New York.

Meanwhile, in an extract from his upcoming political memoir, Mike Pence has recounted a key 2020 meeting involving Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and extremist attorney Sidney Powell – an encounter he says marked a “new low” in the then-escalating effort to delegitimise Joe Biden’s victory.

"Even in an office well acquainted with rough-and-tumble debates, it was a new low,” Mr Pence writes of the encounter, recalling that things “went downhill from there,"

Key points

• Supreme Court grants Trump stay in tax returns case

• Trump Organization fraud case begins after jury selected

• Letitia James’s fraud lawsuit goes to trial at last

• Tom Barrack ‘foreign agent’ trial continues

Trump gets temporary stay on tax records

15:23 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump’s determination to stop the House Ways and Means Committee getting its hands on his tax returns knows no bounds, and his latest effort to scotch the investigation has won what may prove to be a brief victory: a temporary stay issued by the Supreme Court’s John Roberts, who is asking the committee to weigh in.

Who did it better? White House Halloweens compared

15:16 , Andrew Naughtie

A split-screen comparison of Donald Trump and Joe Biden celebrating Halloween at the White House is doing the rounds, specifically putting 2019 up against 2022. Have a look.

Oath Keepers trial: prosecutors introduce messages discussing guns

14:45 , Andrew Naughtie

The Oath Keepers trial is back in court, and prosecutors have begun the day by having an FBI agent authenticate Facebook messages between the defendants sent on the day of the Capitol riot. Among other things, they refer to murdering Mike Pence with bullets.

Mark Meadows’s Jan 6 lawsuit dismissed

13:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, one of the central figures in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, has had his lawsuit against the January 6 select committee’s subpoenas thrown out of court.

Mr Meadows claims that the subpoenas violate separation of powers principles, but US District Court judge Carl Nichols threw out Mr Meadows’s action on the basis that it is barred by the constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, rendering his other claims moot “for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction”.

The ex-White House aide was found in contempt of Congress after refusing to testify to the committee, but the Department of Justice decided not to pursue criminal charges. He has since co-operated with a separate subpoena from the department, which is pursuing its own investigation into the Trump team’s machinations after the 2020 election.

Read more on that from Graig Graziosi.

Mark Meadows complies with DoJ’s Jan 6 subpoena, turns over texts and emails

Jan 6 rioter who wanted to shoot Pelosi to be released

13:15 , Andrew Naughtie

As the fallout from last week’s attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband continues, a Capitol rioter who filmed herself saying she wanted “to shoot her in the frickin’ brain” is set to leave jail on Thursday after serving a two-month sentence.

Dawn Bancroft, who climbed through a Capitol window on January 6 2021 with her friend Diana Santos-Smith, pleaded guilty last August to parading, demonstration, or picketing in a Capitol building. The full criminal complaint against the two women can be read here.

At her sentencing, Ms Bancroft took the chance to account for her comment about Ms Pelosi. “I said it in a jovial way,” she told the judge. “We were joking and laughing on the way back to the train. It was a dumb, stupid comment. I did not mean it.”

ICYMI: Trump slams Fox News and accidentally invokes German christmas fruitcake

12:42 , Andrew Naughtie

Having once been rock-solid, Donald Trump’s relationship with Fox News seems to go day-to-day now, a fragility that appeared in 2020 when the network called Arizona for Joe Biden before any other major outlet. Yesterday was one of his “off” days, riling him so much that he typo’d “stolen” as “stollen” – inadvertently likening the last election to a delicious-if-rich Germanic Christmas confection.

Trump attempts to get Supreme Court to shield his tax returns

12:15 , Andrew Naughtie

Former president Donald Trump has launched a last-ditch appeal to keep the House Ways and Means Committee from gaining access to tax returns he has taken pains to keep secret since he started his 2016 presidential campaign.

In an emergency appeal filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, lawyers for the twice-impeached former president claim allowing the Department of the Treasury to follow US law by turning over six years of his tax returns at the request of House Ways and Means chairman Ritchie Neal, a Democrat, would “undermine the separation of powers and render the office of the Presidency vulnerable to invasive information demands from political opponents in the legislative branch”.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump asks Supreme Court to block House Democrats from seeing his tax returns

Oath Keeper cries in court

11:50 , Andrew Naughtie

As leading members of the Oath Keepers continued their trial on seditious conspiracy charges over the January 6 riot, a former member of the group who has agreed to testify against them broke down in court.

Graydon Carter, who has already pleaded guilty to obstructing Congress on the day of the election certification, sobbed on the stand as he apologized for his actions, explaining that “to repent and be forgiven, you have to confess completely and wholly”. His emotional appearance echoes those of scores of other January 6 defendants, many of whom have pleaded guilty and cited deep remorse and shame in hopes of receiving lighter sentences.

Politico has more.

Capitol officer Harry Dunn testifies to ‘unprecedented’ attack at seditious conspiracy trial

11:00 , Oliver O'Connell

In his testimony to the House committee investigating the attack, US Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn addressed the violence and torrent of racist abuse he endured while holding back a mob that broke into the halls of Congress on 6 January, 2021.

He shared other details from the attack as a key witness in the case against five members of far-right anti-government Oath Keepers group, whose members were filmed joining the mobs breaking into the US Capitol and confronting Officer Dunn.

Alex Woodward reports on this morning’s testimony.

Capitol officer testifies to ‘unprecedented’ attack at seditious conspiracy trial

What to know about the Trump Organization fraud case

09:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate business, is going to trial on charges of criminal tax fraud.

The company faces allegations that it enacted a scheme to help executives avoid paying income tax in a case that has entangled the company’s longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.

The trial comes as Mr Trump’s political action committee spends millions in legal costs as he faces investigations into his actions related to the insurrection and his attempts to reverse the election results, taking classified documents from the White House when he left office, and a defamation case in connection to an allegation of rape.

For all the background you need on this case, here’s Gustaf Kilander.

Everything to know about the Trump Organization case

Trump: 'I’m staying on Truth Social’

07:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump was asked if he will go back on Twitter if Musk reinstates him: “Its good that Elon took over. It was run by maniacs. Radical left lunatics. It was all bots and fake accounts ... I’m staying on Truth Social. I like it better. I think there’s better interaction with people.”

Watch:

Trump endorsed candidate claims children are using litter boxes at school

05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump has officially endorsed the New Hampshire GOP senate candidate who recently spread a widely debunked hoax about children being encouraged to relieve themselves in litter boxes at school.

Writing on his little-used Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said Mr Bolduc “has run a great campaign” for the New Hampshire senate seat currently held by Maggie Hassan, and further claimed that the GOP candidate won his party’s nomination because he “was a strong and proud ‘election denier’”.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump endorses senate candidate who says children are using litter boxes at school

Might Trump testify at his company’s tax fraud trial?

03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Don’t rule it out.

Trump: ‘Democrat-run cities’ to blame for attack on Paul Pelosi

02:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump has weighed in on the violent attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in an interview with a right-wing Spanish-language network.

Speaking to a host from Americano Media on Monday, Mr Trump called the attack on Mr Pelosi “a terrible thing” but suggested the violent assault and home invasion was a reflection of the conditions in cities where voters choose to elect Democrats, rather than a targeted attack on the person who is second in the presidential line of succession.

Andrew Feinberg reports on the former president’s latest comments.

Trump blames ‘Democrat-run cities’ for attack on Paul Pelosi

Could a Trump-endorsed Republican end up running New York?

01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Lee Zeldin voted to overturn the 2020 election results, supports anti-abortion legislation and would fire a recently elected district attorney in deep-blue New York City. Polls show a tight race against Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, Alex Woodward reports.

A Trump-endorsed Republican could end up running New York: The rise of Lee Zeldin

Trump attempts to get Supreme Court to shield his tax returns

00:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump has launched a last-ditch appeal to keep the House Ways and Means Committee from gaining access to tax returns he has taken pains to keep secret since he started his 2016 presidential campaign.

In an emergency appeal filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, lawyers for the twice-impeached former president claim allowing the Department of the Treasury to follow US law by turning over six years of his tax returns at the request of House Ways and Means chairman Ritchie Neal, a Democrat, would “undermine the separation of powers and render the office of the Presidency vulnerable to invasive information demands from political opponents in the legislative branch”.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump asks Supreme Court to block House Democrats from seeing his tax returns

Trump endorses Senate candidate who says school children use litter boxes

Monday 31 October 2022 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump has officially endorsed the New Hampshire GOP senate candidate who recently spread a widely debunked hoax about children being encouraged to relieve themselves in litter boxes at school.

Trump endorses senate candidate who says children are using litter boxes at school

Earlier: Trump Organization tax trial begins as Weisselberg set to testify for prosecution

Monday 31 October 2022 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The only criminal trial to arise out of the years-long probe into former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company kicked off on Monday with opening statements from prosecutors who said the case was not about the ex-president.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump Organization tax trial begins as Weisselberg set to testify for prosecution

Don Jr condemned for ‘sick and dangerous’ post mocking Pelosi hammer attack

Monday 31 October 2022 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr was celebrated by the far right, and condemned everywhere else, for sharing a meme that made light of the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

The self-described “general in meme wars” shared the controversial post to his personal Instagram account on Sunday night, just two days after Paul Pelosi, 82, was forced to undergo surgery after being attacked at the couple’s San Francisco home by a hammer-wielding intruder.

Johanna Chisholm reports.

Donald Trump Jr condemned for ‘sick’ post mocking Paul Pelosi’s hammer attack

‘We Build The Wall’ fraud trial number two ends in conviction

Monday 31 October 2022 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A Colorado businessman was convicted Friday of charges that he and others siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from an online fundraiser to build a wall along the US southern border despite a promise to donors that every cent would go toward building the wall.

Timothy Shea stared straight ahead without reaction as he was convicted in Manhattan federal court of two conspiracy counts and an obstruction of justice charge by a jury that deliberated about six hours after a one-week retrial. He said nothing when he was asked to comment as he left the building.

Sentencing was set for 31 January.

Second 'We Build The Wall' fraud trial ends in conviction

Could a Trump-endorsed Republican end up running New York?

Monday 31 October 2022 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Lee Zeldin voted to overturn the 2020 election results, supports anti-abortion legislation and would fire a recently elected district attorney in deep-blue New York City. Polls show a tight race against Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, Alex Woodward reports.

A Trump-endorsed Republican could end up running New York: The rise of Lee Zeldin

Elon Musk tired of being asked if Trump can return to Twitter

Monday 31 October 2022 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Elon Musk has only owned Twitter for a handful of days but the billionaire already seems tired of being asked when Donald Trump could return to the platform.

The world’s richest person took to Twitter, which he finally bought for $44bn last week after months of trying to back out of the deal, to complain about being asked about the one-term president.

Before his takeover, Mr Musk said that he believed Twitter was wrong for banning Mr Trump in the wake of his supporters attacking the US Capitol on January 6.

Graeme Massie reports.

Elon Musk complains about being asked about Trump’s Twitter return

Trump: ‘Democrat-run cities’ to blame for attack on Paul Pelosi

Monday 31 October 2022 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump has weighed in on the violent attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in an interview with a right-wing Spanish-language network.

Speaking to a host from Americano Media on Monday, Mr Trump called the attack on Mr Pelosi “a terrible thing” but suggested the violent assault and home invasion was a reflection of the conditions in cities where voters choose to elect Democrats, rather than a targeted attack on the person who is second in the presidential line of succession.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump blames ‘Democrat-run cities’ for attack on Paul Pelosi

Trump complains Fox News treat him ‘every bit as badly as they did in 2015'

Monday 31 October 2022 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has complained about Fox News’s coverage of him, specifically from liberal contributor Marie Harf whom he claims is allowed to “say anything she wants, without rebuttal”.

He posted on Truth Social:

Fox News treats “TRUMP” every bit as badly as they did in 2015, before I later won the Election. Fox was brutal then, and not too good now. This lightweight failure in the Obama Administration, Fox News Contributer Marie Harf, is allowed to say anything she wants, without rebuttal - and others likewise. I beat Crooked Hillary Clinton, and then beat Biden by much more. Fox is afraid to say what REALLY happened in that farce of an Election - IT WAS RIGGED AND STOLLEN [*sic]. Get tough Republicans!!!

* stollen is a German Christmas bread.

Trump asks Supreme Court to stop Democrats from seeing his tax returns

Monday 31 October 2022 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump has launched a last-ditch appeal to keep the House Ways and Means committee from gaining access to tax returns he has taken pains to keep secret since he started his 2016 presidential campaign.

In an emergency appeal filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, lawyers for the twice-impeached former president claim allowing the Department of the Treasury to follow US law by turning over six years of his tax returns at the request of House Ways and Means chairman Ritchie Neal, a Democrat, would “undermine the separation of powers and render the office of the Presidency vulnerable to invasive information demands from political opponents in the legislative branch”.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Trump asks Supreme Court to block House Democrats from seeing his tax returns

Capitol officer Harry Dunn testifies to ‘unprecedented’ attack at seditious conspiracy trial

Monday 31 October 2022 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

In his testimony to the House committee investigating the attack, US Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn addressed the violence and torrent of racist abuse he endured while holding back a mob that broke into the halls of Congress on 6 January, 2021.

He shared other details from the attack as a key witness in the case against five members of far-right anti-government Oath Keepers group, whose members were filmed joining the mobs breaking into the US Capitol and confronting Officer Dunn.

Alex Woodward reports on this morning’s testimony.

Capitol officer testifies to ‘unprecedented’ attack at seditious conspiracy trial

Trump makes another last-ditch attempt to keep tax returns secret

Monday 31 October 2022 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The House Ways and Means Committee has spent years trying to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns, and looked to have made a breakthrough a few months ago when Mr Trump’s last legal challenge failed. And yet, it seems the ex-president is trying again to block the release, filing an emergency application to the US Supreme Court:

What to know about the Trump Organization fraud case

Monday 31 October 2022 17:00 , Andrew Naughtie

The Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate business, is going to trial on charges of criminal tax fraud.

The company faces allegations that it enacted a scheme to help executives avoid paying income tax in a case that has entangled the company’s longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.

The trial comes as Mr Trump’s political action committee spends millions in legal costs as he faces investigations into his actions related to the insurrection and his attempts to reverse the election results, taking classified documents from the White House when he left office, and a defamation case in connection to an allegation of rape.

For all the background you need on this case, here’s Gustaf Kilander.

Everything to know about the Trump Organization case

Trump endorses candidate who spread litter box conspiracy theory

Monday 31 October 2022 16:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Former president Donald Trump has officially endorsed Don Bolduc, the New Hampshire GOP senate candidate who recently spread a widely debunked hoax about children being encouraged to relieve themselves in litter boxes at school.

According to CNN, Mr Bolduc claimed children are being encouraged to identify as cats and other animals at school in the same way some people identify as transgender.

“Guess what? We have furries and fuzzies in classrooms,” he said. “They lick themselves, they’re cats. When they don’t like something, they hiss – people walk down the hallway and jump out”.

Not a single aspect of what he said is in any way true, but Mr Bolduc is not the first Republican candidate for federal office to spread the same lies.

Andrew Feinberg has the story:

Trump endorses senate candidate who says children are using litter boxes at school

Oath Keepers trial witness describes rescuing Capitol staff and Senators

Monday 31 October 2022 16:00 , Andrew Naughtie

With Harry Dunn’s testimony completed, the jury in the Oath Keepers trial have now heard an account from David Lazarus, a special agent assigned to protect Nancy Pelosi who was at the Capitol during the riot. His account adds another layer of chilling detail to what we know about the events of January 6 2021:

Opening statements in Trump Organization trial

Monday 31 October 2022 15:34 , Andrew Naughtie

The criminal tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization has begun with opening statements from prosecutors – who insisted the case was nothing to do with Donald Trump himself. He is not named in the indictment, and is not expected to be called as a witness.

Instead, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said the case “is about greed and cheating, cheating on taxes”.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump Organization tax trial begins as Weisselberg set to testify for prosecution

Harry Dunn testifies at Oath Keepers trial

Monday 31 October 2022 15:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Harry Dunn was one of the four officers to testify at the first Jan 6 committee hearing, where several members of the panel were moved to tears by the witnesses’ accounts of their experiences. He was also captured on video during the riot remonstrating with various rioters at particularly fractious moments, including some members of the defendants’ ranks.

Jan 6 committee member runs against crisis of democracy

Monday 31 October 2022 14:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Of all the members of the January 6 committee still in the running for re-election, Democratic Congresswoman Elaine Luria is the most vulnerable, running to keep a swing district in Virginia where she managed a surprise win in 2018.

In what’s likely to be her closing ad of the cycle, she puts the crisis of democracy that the committee is tackling front-and-centre – a move that has the advantage of avoiding any discussion of Joe Biden’s agenda and performance without actually rejecting or criticising him.

Scenes from Thomas Barrack’s trial

Monday 31 October 2022 14:00 , Andrew Naughtie

One of the several ongoing court cases in the Trump orbit is the trail of Thomas Barrack, who will return to court today as he faces charges of illicitly acting as a foreign agent for the UAE.

In the course of proceedings so far, Mr Barrack has said “dozens” of people asked him to get them pardoned by the former president but that he never sought a pardon himself – and that Mr Trump was viewed from abroad as someone so ignorant he “Could not spell ‘Middle East’”.

Johanna Chisholm reports:

Trump ally says ex-president inept on foreign affairs, couldn’t ‘spell Middle East’

Opinion: Musk should let Trump back on Twitter

Monday 31 October 2022 13:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Writing for The Independent’s Voices section, Sean O’Grady argues that whatever anyone else might think, Elon Musk would do well to let Donald Trump back on his newly purchased social media platform:

Read the article below.

Elon Musk should let Donald Trump back on Twitter | Sean O’Grady

Trump Organization jury ready to hear case

Monday 31 October 2022 13:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump’s lawyers had a frustrating time last week during jury selection for the Trump Organization fraud trial, arguing that finding sufficiently neutral jurors in Manhattan would be close to impossible given the former president’s profile there. In the end, however, 12 people were ultimately seated – albeit not before one ruled herself out in spectacular fashion.

Josh Marcus reports.

Dismissed juror says ‘no way in hell’ she can be unbiased in Trump tax trial

Pence details post-election “new low” in upcoming book

Monday 31 October 2022 12:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Mike Pence’s political memoir So Help Me God is hitting the shelves in two weeks, its already-released back cover blurbed with his description of his anger at the events of January 6.

Axios has now obtained a new extract from the book in which Mr Pence – who has not yet testified to the January 6 committee – describes a meeting after the 2020 election involving “a growing group of outside attorneys led by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell”, calling it “a new low”.

“After the campaign lawyers gave a sober and somewhat pessimistic report on the state of election challenges, the outside cast of characters went on the attack”, he writes. ‘Giuliani told the president over the speakerphone, "Your lawyers are not telling you the truth, Mr. President.’”

Mr Pence writes that in retrospect this meeting signalled that “the seeds were being sown for a tragic day in January”.

Kinzinger condemns Trump Jr for Pelosi hammer joke

Monday 31 October 2022 12:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Adam Kinzinger, the Republican January 6 committee member who has become a relentless critic of his party’s violent and anti-democratic turn, has singled out Donald Trump Jr for an Instagram post the ex-president’s son dropped after the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband:

Also in court: the Oath Keepers

Monday 31 October 2022 11:28 , Andrew Naughtie

Proceedings resume today in the trial of the Oath Keepers for their alleged acts of seditious conspiracy on and around January 6 2021.

The trial has so far seen the jury shown extensive CCTV footage and texts between the far-right group’s core members (some of them highly explicit) – as well as communications indicating that at least some of them saw Donald Trump’s infamous “will be wild!” tweet as a summons to descend on Washington, DC and disrupt the certification of the election by force.

Bannon on Bolsonaro

Monday 31 October 2022 10:55 , Andrew Naughtie

“He cannot concede, impossible. Screw Biden, screw the State Department, screw the CIA, f*** ‘em.” Such was the diagnosis of the Brazilian presidential election given by Steve Bannon, who is now claiming that Jair Bolsonaro in fact won a vote stolen via a “globalist” conspiracy.

Mr Bannon is a longtime admirer of the authoritarian and socially conservative outgoing president, and has previously recruited his son Eduardo to help in his international far-right movement-building project.

Catch up: Letitia James’s lawsuit against Donald Trump

Monday 31 October 2022 10:27 , Andrew Naughtie

New York Attorney General Letitia James has spent years building her fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump his three eldest adult children and a host of companies, organisations and persons associated with his eponymous real estate and licensing business.

The end result of her investigation was a 200-plus-page case alleging that the former president and his business empire falsely inflated the value of his net worth by billions of dollars in an effort to gain tax benefits and other benefits from insurers and financial institutions.

Alex Woodward and Andrew Feinberg have this report on what the case involves and how it came about.

NY attorney general files $250m lawsuit against Trump and three of his children

Good morning

Monday 31 October 2022 10:15 , Andrew Naughtie

Welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump and his legal troubles. Stay with us for updates.